Mandy Patinkin in an inspiring performance:
http://limos.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/ga/ul/6571028622/maninline.wmv
That was excellent. I suppose that is from a movie—do you know what movie that is?
I don’t have any idea. I did a quick search on Google, but haven’t found any info yet.
“Dead Like Me” - 2003
Fun show. I’m going through the DVD’s now, since I never had Showtime…
Thanks!
From [u]IMDb[/u]
Rube: > [to a hurried woman who sees an acquaintance in line at the post office and moves in line next to her] I have a question for you… is everyone in this line an asshole?
Woman in Post Office: > Excuse me?
Rube: > Is everyone you just cut in front of an asshole?
Woman in Post Office: > No.
Rube: > So it’s just you then?
Woman in Post Office: > I have children in the car.
Rube: > I have a cake in the oven.
[pointing]
Rube: > He’s got three minutes left on the meter. And she’s got a lunch meeting. We all have a finite amount of time. Now get in the back of the line. And don’t use your children like that - it’s shameful.
Oh, I forgot, the show’s also been picked up by the SciFi channel,
if that’s included in your Basic Cable package. I think they’re showing
2 episodes on Tuesday nights at 7 and 8pm.
Many a time I’ve been waiting in queue and seen someone do that, I’d wanted to say something to that same effect.
Oh wow. That’s brave. I wish more people acted like that in real life.
I see many things that aren’t right in this world that I would like to correct. I have learned, however, that I can’t police the world. We can think about being assertive and intervening in situations where we see an injustice, as in the example cited. However, in the real world such interventions may not be such a good idea. For nine times it may work to your advantage, but the next time all hell may break loose when you find yourself confronted with an unstable and violent personality. That being said, I don’t think that it is worth it to take a chance to make right an apparent injustice. One in ten odds isn’t very good, is it?
My father loved to take care of his yard. Visitors in the woods where we lived who didn’t abide by his guidelines of proper behavior were quick to recieve the quips of his sharp tongue. For example, if visitors parked on the grass, he would walk over and confront them with the hostile remark, “What’s the matter? Did you take your stupid pill today?”. But, friends, I wouldn’t recommend this strategy. As much as I dislike seeing the people driving on the grass after a heavy rain and making a muddy mess in the process, my lips are sealed. Like of other unpleasant things in this world that we dislike but must tolerate, I don’t think that we should waste our energy with these small matters. We need to focus on the larger issues that need our attention.
I get your point, but also know that if I don’t strike down the sapling next to my house, then I’ll later have to contend with a full-grown oak. How often are the larger issues merely symptoms and/or outgrowths of the smaller problems?
Well, it’s just a movie (or a tv show?) Not advice about
how to behave, except, of course, for line breakers.
You know, there are places like India where the idea of
a ‘line’ doesn’t exist, largely. Makes getting a bus ticket
quite an experience.
There used to be a by-law in London - maybe it was all of the UK - to the effect that one must form a queue when waiting for a bus. This by-law was repealed in the eighties. Now it’s a scrum.
It has been years since I have ridden a cross-country bus, but I remember the experiences as not being very pleasant because of the uncertainty of seating. Unlike the airlines where you have an assigned seat with a number, on a bus the seating is on a first come basis. On the bus, when we stopped for a meal break, I always had the feeling that I needed to rush back to the bus in order to hold my place, as the new passengers were crowding the door, hoping to get one of the few remaining seats. On returning to the bus, if you found someone sitting in the seat that you had been sitting in, there wasn’t too much that you could do about it. As I said, I much prefer a little more organization. On the airlines the ticket agents have to deal with overbooking or late-arriving passengers. I can read my book and relax with the assurance that I don’t have to fight for a seat. I will pay a few dollars more for that service, thank you.
I like lines too. I was in San Francisco waiting to get on one of those open-air tram cars. People just went wild to get on and I was being crushed and moved along by the crowd. I had no control at all over the situation. I saw children and parents pulled apart. It actually was quite scary and I decided never to get in a situation like that again.
I rarely see people cut in line, but a couple of years ago I saw some people take the seats of some older people during an intermission at a concert where there was standing room only. They just grabbed the chairs and moved them. The people grabbing the chairs were well aware of what they were doing and I told them that wasn’t a nice thing to do. They clearly did not care what I thought 
. But then people who do things like that really wouldn’t care what other people thought I suppose. Creeps.
I find that the older I become, the less likely I am to tolerate rude behavior from others. (Of course, my own rude behavior is quite acceptable and should be tolerated by those around me. 
)